Jeff Rowland

+1, G.

Try before you buy, whenever possible.
Synergy is king.

G.,
I take everything I read with a "grain of salt." I understand that everyone has their biases. I love the Rowland sound, but I'm lacking bottom end and I'm trying to find the most cost effective way to correct it. It could be the Rowland or a combination of the Rowland and Directstream DAC. I've read comments regarding the Directstream's lack of bass reproduction. I don't know if adding a second 525, a preamp, or going to the S2 Continuum is the most cost effective way forward. If the DAC chip is that great, adding the S2 continuum is the most cost effective.

ricrd...no saracasim intended....I love Wireworld stuff..use it myself. I have also used Rowland (know Jeff peronally). Excellent company....I always look up to Mr. Rowland.. (He's very, very tall :)

I remember the 7T's though very good speakers didn't have the bass that I thought it would have, by looking at the speaker. Have you thought of adding a sub?? A powered sub would make the main speaker sound better too.

Ricred, what can often be a very major contributor to lack of bass impact is the acoustic effect of the rear wall (the wall behind the listening position). I can't tell from your system description photos what that distance is, but under typical indoor environmental conditions rear wall reflections will produce a suckout (i.e., a lack of bass) centered at a frequency in Hz of about 282 divided by the distance in feet between the listener's head and that wall.

So if you were say five feet from that wall, there would be a suckout centered at about 282/5 = 56 Hz. In my experience that effect can often be MUCH more significant than differences in bass performance between most electronic components.

Good luck as you proceed. Regards,
-- Al